County Courthouse thrown into Dark Ages

Bill Gang

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 11:12 a.m.

Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti told a packed courtroom at the preliminary hearing on the slaying of former gaming executive Ted Binion that she was determined to continue despite a power outage that left the County Courthouse without electricity and air conditioning.

There was only minimal lighting Wednesday powered by an emergency generator, but within moments of Togliatti's pronouncement the lights in the sweltering courtroom flickered off altogether.

The judge conceded the point and recessed the hearing until today.

By early afternoon Wednesday -- about three hours after the 11 a.m. outage -- the courthouse was virtually empty. Most of the 600 employees were given the afternoon off by the county manager.

That included workers at the Marriage License Bureau -- which left a plethora of potentially happy couples less than happy -- although a makeshift system of handwritten licenses was established after about four hours at the Marriage Commission office a block away.

But by 9 p.m., the power was back on. District Court Administrator Chuck Short said employees came in early today to print court calendars and take care of other business. By the time the public arrived, it was almost as if there hadn't been a problem.

The power outage, however, had demonstrated the dependence on electronic devices and systems. Without electricity for computers, most of the justice system simply ground to a halt.

The one exception was Drug Court.

With 220 participants scheduled for the Wednesday session, District Judge Jack Lehman imposed on the county for space at the Government Center a few blocks away and signs redirecting participants were slapped on the courthouse doors.

Lehman said today that about 180 of those scheduled made it to the alternate site.

The smell of burned electrical systems wafted through sections of the courthouse Wednesday after a county-owned transformer on a nearby corner malfunctioned, shorting out aging electrical systems at the courthouse.

A fire in an electrical switching system in the courthouse parking garage was quickly extinguished by county workers.

As the last courthouse employees left in the afternoon, frantic county engineers scurried to determine the extent of the damage to electrical circuits in the building that was built in the 1960s and has undergone four major expansions or renovations.

County spokesman Doug Bradford said that every time workers opened an electrical panel in the basement, more fried wires were found.

There was a question whether the courthouse would be operational today, but Bradford said County Manager Dale Askew had authorized "whatever it takes" to get back to business as usual -- or at least get back to business.

"He has emphasized that the operation of the courthouse is vital," Bradford said Wednesday.

When the source of the outage was determined, it appeared the solution was going to be complicated because a new switching system simply couldn't be purchased and installed.

The system is decades old and replacements are not readily available.

But Short said a compatible unit was sitting unused in the courthouse and was in place hours before another unit could have been located and flown into Las Vegas.

Some around the courthouse had joked that the solution might be to stretch an extension cord to the courthouse from a nearby county building.

It was feared that even if power were restored in time for normal court hours, the outage would have guaranteed that court sessions would be disorganized and confusing affairs.

But short said the quick fix solved that.

Even the Clark County Detention Center was given plenty of time to determine which prisoners needed to be transported to the courthouse at Third Street and Carson Avenue.

Short said about 10,000 people pass daily through the security scanners at the seven-story courthouse.

For those who were scheduled for court Wednesday and were denied access because of the power failure, District and Justice court administrators said the cases could be handled today without penalty.

Likewise, the county clerk's office was expected to permit the late filing of court documents that should have been filed Wednesday.

While Bradford sent out a news release Wednesday asking that those with court dates today call the courthouse and confirm when they should appear, he conceded that if the power isn't restored, the callers won't get an answer.

And even if there is power, there is a chance the calls will overload the switchboard.

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